To Be.. or Not To Be (Vegan)

This little experiment originally began back in May. May 19th to be exact, a couple months before I even started blog. I decided to try veganism because I have high cholesterol, and even though I’ve been a vegetarian for years, I thought a vegan diet might help get my numbers down. I’ve only gotten my cholesterol checked once, and that was about two months after I went vegan. You can check that update here. Sadly, the total cholesterol didn’t budge, however my good cholesterol went up a bit and the bad cholesterol went down a bit.

So next Friday, it will be 6 months. I’ll get my cholesterol checked, and we’ll see what happened. I’m not going to lie, I’ll be a little disappointed if the numbers haven’t gotten any better. If they haven’t, then I think I’ll just go back to being a vegetarian. If they have gotten better, then I’ll have to make a choice of what to do next.

Regardless of the numbers, since going vegan I’ve been doing a lot more research on food, the food industry, particularly the meat and dairy industry, and let me tell you, the more I learn, the less I want to eat meat & dairy. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to eating meat, simply because I don’t like it. I don’t have a taste for it. But dairy products… I don’t know.

We all have our personal opinions of what is “best” so I’m simply trying to decide what best for me. What’s best for me, might not be what’s best for you. But I’m thinking it would be best for me to go back to eating dairy products. I think for the most part, I’ll still eat a mostly vegan diet. I feel better when I eat more fruits and veggies, and my tummy is a little sensitive to dairy products anyway. (I never drank milk or anything even before the vegan experiment.) But their have been moments where I’ve had to go with a more “unhealthy” choice, simply because the “healthy” choice was vegan. (Think giant bagel that happens to be vegan, vs. light yogurt.) So for me, I think I’d be able to strike a healthy balance that would include dairy and eggs.

I guess I’d have to change the blog to LizLivingMostlyVegan😉

Official decision to come later… Lets go back to some food.

Check out this NYC pizza! (Mine is the half without cheese!)

This pizza was so good! I may or may not have eaten 2 monstrous slices😉

Last nights dinner was quite “green”… I know you’re supposed to eat lots of different colors, but I guess last night I was feeling monochromatic!

Good thing the pepper and carrot sneaked in there for some balance!

Do you usually have a multicolor plate, or do you tend to stick to one or two hues?

Kath (Eating for Living) said,

I’m sorry that vegan eating hasn’t worked for you with regard to your cholesterol levels. Actually, I believe there isn’t a connection between saturated fat and cholesterol, rather between cholesterol and sugar consumption. (Please don’t get me wrong, although I’m not a vegan or vegetarian doesn’t mean that I don’t respect and appreciate vegan and vegetarian diets – they just don’t work for me!) I just wanted to say that as you said you think about going back to dairy products of your numbers don’t improve, so in that case you don’t have to worry about what the dairy fat would do to your cholesterol levels (nothing, I suppose).

Experiementing seems to be a good way to fnd out what suits you and what doesn’t. I’m experimenting a lot, and although I eat mostly from the sprectrum of Paleo foods (because I’ve found out those foods work well for me), I still go on trying things out, one at a time. Recently, I’ve tried whole grains, milk, sugar, and even soy milk (although I detest soy, but I wanted to know before I decide over it). Whole grains I’ll try again, the rest amde me feel absolutely horrible, LOL. But now I know!😉

You have a cute blog, and I really love it’s so green!😀 I’ll go on peeking in here!

I really admire your decision to go vegan for the health benefits, but I completely understand if you go back to welcoming some dairy into your life🙂 I’ve been a vegetarian for over 6 years, and have had occasional brief stints (no more than 1 – 4 weeks) of being vegan. While I could do without the dairy milk and eggs (bring on the almond milk!), I do love to indulge in good cheese, and I enjoy using yogurt in baked goods.

You’re completely right–it’s truly all about balance! Good luck with the cholesterol test…I hope it turns out well🙂

I always enjoy ordering my pizza without cheese (even though I’m not a vegan). I’m so glad that you visited my blog today…because it led me to your gorgeous site! I wanted to let you know that figs and dates are similar, but figs aren’t nearly as sweet as dates. Thank you for sharing with me…I hope that your tests go well!

Good luck at the doctor! Even if your cholesterol levels aren’t significantly lower, there are myriad other health benefits to being vegan (or mostly vegan). I still eat some meat, fish and eggs, but eliminating dairy has been both a blessing to my health, as well as a daily challenge. Now that I’ve managed to live dairy-free for several months, I am considering moving on to full veganism.

For me, the attraction isn’t only the benefits to my health. I understand and accept that abstaining from animal products is the best way to be a good global food citizen, and is the most compassionate way to live. Our obsession with consuming animal products is responsible for such a huge degree of waste and pollution in this world, not to mention unspeakable cruelty.

I’ll be interested to read your “official” decision! I’m sure I’ll be making a similar one soon.

definitely explore the options. its the best way to find the balance of what works for you. even if ur vegan most of the time and then the odd time u have some dairy or whatever, thats cool. or if it is the other way around, just as cool. u’ll find what u really like through exploring and the decision will resonate with you. it took me some time and some honest looks at myself to come to a place where i felt confident about my food choices. definitely not easy, but its good when we take the math out of it and do it based on intuition and what ur naturally drawn towards❤❤

I hope your numbers turn out ok! As someone who has a parent with chronically high cholesterol (and eats a vegan diet), I know it must be frustrating. I think it just goes to show that diet can’t always control cholesterol production…and also maybe that cholesterol levels may not be the best indicator of heart disease risk (I am probably the few dietitians that may believe this). Whatever happens, know we’ll be here supporting you in the blog community!

Wow, I’m so impressed that you became a vegan. I was a vegetarian for 14 years and I have to say, going that extra step to be a vegan would have been impossible. I can easily not eat eggs or drink milk, but the fact that they are in some many cooked/baked items, I’d have a hard time.